Aliyah Matharu leaves game vs. Ole Miss with apparent head injury

As Florida and Ole Miss battled it out in the fourth quarter Friday night’s SEC Tournament quarterfinal, Aliyah Matharu headed to the locker room. She attempted to take a charge in the final minutes and hit her head in the process.

Matharu walked to the locker room largely under her own power with the trainer by her side. Play was briefly delayed as she laid underneath the basket. Following a few minutes in the locker room, Matharu returned to the bench with about two minutes to play in the game. She later headed back into the game with 1:55 remaining.

The referees called a blocking foul on Matharu because she got to her spot late, giving Ole Miss two free throws. At the time of her departure, she had 22 points, three rebounds and three assists as Florida and Ole Miss sat tied at 66-66. Ole Miss ended up pulling away, though, getting the 84-74 victory. As a result, the Rebels sealed a spot in the SEC Tournament semifinal.

Aliyah Matharu put together a statement game to lead Florida to the SEC Tournament quarterfinals

Matharu put together a huge performance Thursday night to get Florida into the quarterfinals. She dropped a career-high 35 points to help lead the No. 11-seeded Gators to the 62-59 victory over No. 6 seed Vanderbilt. She also made some big plays on defense with four steals and multiple charges drawn.

After the game, though, Florida coach Kelly Rae Finley said Thursday night was a statement game.

“I’m just gonna be honest, those that know me know that I speak with a lot of truth and honesty. To be top-five in scoring in the conference and top-five in steals and not make any All-SEC [teams], she takes that personally,” Finley said. “And we as a program do, too. I think she showed tonight why she’s one of the best players in the league.”

Matharu sat out the 2022-23 season at Florida after starting her career at Mississippi State and Texas. During that time, Finley said, she worked on honing her craft to fit the point guard role. Those efforts are paying off in a huge way as Matharu puts up the best numbers of his career.

“Aliyah has worked tirelessly at being a point guard,” Finley said of Matharu. “When she came to us, it was not something she had trained a lot. Ball screen reads, film breakdown. All season long and in the season of the past when she sat out, she studied. She isn’t perfect – she wouldn’t claim to be. But she’s a learner, she wants to be better and the fierce competitor that you see is exactly who she is. Sometimes, that fire gets channeled.

“But we talk a lot about, we would never want to train that out of her. It’s what makes her elite at what she does.”